The opportunistic theft of personal belongings is, unfortunately, a frequent occurrence in public places and is a risk that everyone faces when they are out in public. Because of the risk of their belongings being stolen, most people are hesitant to leave belongings, such as coats, briefcases, luggage, or the like, unattended in public places. Accordingly, people are forced to carry their belongings with them at all times, even when the belongings are unlikely to be needed and could otherwise be left.
The inventor of the present invention has encountered this problem in a number of situations. For example, during the snowy winter months when a coat is required outdoors, the inventor found there was nowhere to leave her heavy coat while strolling through the mall. Therefore, her choices were to carry the heavy garment, place it somewhere and risk having it stolen, or to leave it in the car and walk through the bitter cold to the mall. A similar situation occurred when traveling. While waiting for a flight, the inventor needed to use the restroom. However, rather than leave her carry-on bag, coat and purse in the waiting area, she was forced to bring all of her belongings with her.
In response to these situations, the inventor purchased a cable style bicycle lock to secure her garment to one of the mall's benches during her next trip. Unfortunately this solution was not ideal, as the heavy cable was too bulky and heavy to continually carry in the pocket of the garment or even in a purse or bag. Further, the cable was too tightly wound and would not release its “curl” enough to slip easily through the garment's sleeve. As this was the case, it was readily apparent that the bicycle lock would not be adapted for use in securing a carry-on bag or purse in addition to a garment. Based upon these drawbacks, the inventor determined that a standard bicycle style lock was not suitable for either situation.
The inventor then searched for other commercially available products that that might be easily carried and stored and would deter opportunistic theft of garments and personal belongings, but found that none were available. A search of patents describing products that might solve these problems was also undertaken, and resulted in the identification of two patents that had some relevance to the problem at hand.
One such product is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,457, which discloses a closed loop cable system that is fed through the arms of a coat and is permanently attached thereto. This is described as a single-use system for use in clothing stores, in which the cable cut off by a store clerk when the coat is purchased. Accordingly, it is not adapted for reuse by consumers. Further, the system is only meant to serve as an identifier that the coat was not worn into the store by a customer and, hence is not adapted to attach to a fixed object. Finally, this device has a fixed length and is not adjustable by the user.
Another garment locking system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,293, which discloses a system that utilizes a wire disposed upon a locking spring loaded spool, which allows the wire to be extended and retracted in order to vary its length. This system is an improvement over the product described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,457, insofar as it is reusable, has an adjustable length and is adapted to attach to a fixed object. However, this system does not have any means for securing the cable to the lock such that only the owner may remove it. Accordingly, it is primarily adapted for use in preventing garments from being stolen while the owner is nearby and could periodically check on the garment, and may not be relied upon to prevent theft of such a garment when left completely unattended.
As commercially available products were not available and products described in issued patents did not solve the problem, the inventor decided to develop her own system. Her first prototype was simply a thin wire cable of sufficient length to extend through the arms of the garment, with loops at each end through which a small keyed padlock could be secured. This prototype worked reasonably well, as the cable was light enough to be easily transported and was flexible enough to pass through the arms of the garment. However, the inventor found that this was not ideal. First, the cable became unlooped when stored in her pocket or purse, making it difficult to access other objects carried therein. Second, the cable needed to be of sufficient length to pass through the garment and other belongings and be secured to a stationary object. Thus, the cable was made longer than would normallybe necessary, resulting in the excess cable causing a tripping hazard. Third, the use of a keyed type padlock required the use of separate keys, which must be carried and identified before the lock could be opened.
Based upon the drawbacks identified in the initial prototype, the inventor endeavored to modify the design to include a carrying pouch, to allow the length of the cable to be adjusted, and to utilize a combination type lock that didn't require the use of a separate key. This resulted in a prototype that forms one embodiment of the present invention. This prototype overcame the drawbacks inherent in the first prototype and solved the problems that lead to its development. However, the inventor noted that it was difficult to read the numbers on the combination lock in dimly lit places.
In response to the difficulty in reading the numbers, the inventor searched for a commercially available combination lock that included an integral light. However, she once again found that such a product was not available. Accordingly, she developed a combination lock for use with her system that integrating a light into the design. This improvement proved to be an important one and forms the basis for the preferred embodiment of the present invention.